日本首相安倍晋三宣布结束针对新型冠状病毒大流行的紧急状态，仅报告了851人死亡，但从未实施封锁。
“我已经决定结束全国的紧急状态，”安倍在周一的电视新闻发布会上说。"在仅仅一个半月的时间里，我们几乎控制住了(感染)局面。"
安倍警告称，解除禁令并不意味着这种新型病毒已经从日本消失。“我们对抗病毒的战斗将继续，”他说，同时敦促日本人民继续遵循严格的社会距离指导。
5月25日，在新型冠状病毒大流行期间，人们戴着口罩穿过东京新宿区的一条街道。
截至周一，这个东亚国家报告了16628例新冠状病毒确诊病例。在感染者中，13，612人已经康复，851人已经死亡。拥有1400万居民的东京是该国受灾最严重的地区，有5100多例病例。周一，该市仅报告了8例新感染病例。
华盛顿特区的日本大使馆没有回应新闻周刊通过出版物征求意见。
尽管日本从未实施过像中国、许多欧洲国家和美国那样的严格封锁，但它禁止去过许多重灾区的外国游客，并敦促居民遵守社交距离准则。餐馆和商店也被要求提前关门。卡拉ok酒吧、现场音乐场所和健身房已经关闭，并将在未来几周继续关闭。
日本公共卫生官员警告民众在公共场合戴口罩，如果可能的话，继续在家工作。日本政府要求民众适应新的生活方式，以避免新病例的增加，并防止病毒的传播。人们也被鼓励不要为了非必要的目的去国内其他地区旅行。
5月25日，在东京的新闻发布会上，日本首相安倍晋三戴着面罩以手语翻译的身份发言。
目前还不清楚为什么日本的感染率相对较低，因COVID-19导致的死亡人数相对较少。由于许多其他国家实施了严格的封锁，安倍没有采取什么措施来遏制病毒的传播，因此受到了批评。
早稻田大学专门研究科学传播的教授、该新型病毒公共专家小组成员田中美纪弘(Mikihito Tanaka)告诉彭博(Bloomberg)，只要看看死亡人数，就可以说日本是成功的。“但即使是专家也不知道原因。”
据共同社报道，日本经济振兴大臣西村康稔表示，将每三周对病毒情况进行一次审查，并可能采取进一步措施放松目前的指导。在那之前，日本公众一直被鼓励呆在家里，避免大型公共集会。
Japan Ends Coronavirus Emergency With 850 Deaths and No Lockdown
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced the end of his state of emergency declaration for the novel coronavirus pandemic, with just 851 deaths reported and without ever implementing a lockdown.
"I have decided to end the state of emergency across the nation," Abe said during a televised press conference on Monday. "In just over a month and a half, we almost brought (the infection) situation under control."
Abe cautioned that lifting the order did not mean that the novel virus was gone from Japan. "Our battle against the virus will continue," he said, while urging the Japanese people to continue following stringent social distancing guidance.
People wearing face masks cross a street in Tokyo's Shinjuku area on May 25 amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
As of Monday, the East Asian nation had reported 16,628 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. Of those infected, 13,612 have already recovered and 851 have died. Tokyo, the nation's capital with 14 million residents, was the hardest-hit part of the country, with more than 5,100 cases. On Monday, the city reported just eight new infections.
The Japanese embassy in Washington, D.C. did not respond to Newsweek's request for comment by publication.
While Japan never implemented stringent lockdowns like those in parts of China, many European countries and the U.S., it barred foreigner travelers who had visited many hard-hit countries and urged residents to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Restaurants and shops were also required to close earlier than normal. Karaoke bars, live music venues and gyms were shuttered and will remain closed in the coming weeks.
Public health officials in Japan have warned the population to wear masks in public and continue to work from home if possible. The Japanese government has asked the population to adapt to a new lifestyle to avoid an uptick in new cases and prevent the spread of the virus. People have also been encouraged to avoid traveling for non-essential purposes to other regions of the country.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks as a sign language interpreter wearing a face shield interprets at a news conference in Tokyo on May 25.
It's unclear why Japan has a relatively low infection rate and a comparatively small number of deaths due to COVID-19. Abe has faced criticism for taking little action to curb the virus' spread as many other nations implemented stringent lockdowns.
"Just by looking at death numbers, you can say Japan was successful," Mikihito Tanaka, a professor at Waseda University specializing in science communication, and a member of a public group of experts on the novel virus, told Bloomberg. "But even experts don't know the reason."
Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan's economic revitalization minister, has said that the situation with the virus will be reviewed every three weeks and further steps could be taken to ease the guidance currently in place, Kyodo News reported. Until then, the Japanese public has been encouraged to remain at home and to avoid large public gatherings.
